Regenerative heat exchanger

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A regenerative heat exchanger, or more commonly a regenerator, is a type of heat
exchanger where heat from the hot fluid is intermittently stored in a thermal storage
medium before it is transferred to the cold fluid. To accomplish this the hot fluid is brought
into contact with the heat storage medium, then the fluid is displaced with the cold fluid,
which absorbs the heat.[1]
In regenerative heat exchangers, the fluid on either side of the heat exchanger can be
the same fluid. The fluid may go through an external processing step, and then it is
flowed back through the heat exchanger in the opposite direction for further processing.
Usually the application will use this process cyclically or repetitively.
Regenerative heating was one of the most important technologies developed during
the Industrial Revolution when it was used in the hot blast process on blast furnaces,[2] It
was later used in glass and steel making, to increase the efficiency of open hearth
furnaces, and in high pressure boilers and chemical and other applications, where it
continues to be important today.

Contents
[hide]

1 History

2 Types of regenerators
o

2.1 Biology

2.2 Cryogenics

3 Advantages of regenerators

4 Disadvantages of regenerators

5 See also

6 References

History[edit]
The first regenerator was invented by Rev. Robert Stirling in 1816, and is commonly
found as a component of his Stirling engine. The simplest Stirlings, and most models,
use a less efficient but simpler to construct, displacer instead.
Later applications included the blast furnace process known as hot blast and the Open
hearth furnace also called Siemens regenerative furnace (which was used for making
glass), where the hot exhaust gases from combustion are passed through firebrick
regenerative chambers, which are thus heated. The flow is then reversed, so that the
heated bricks preheat the fuel.[3]
Edward Alfred Cowper applied the regeneration principle to blast furnaces, in the form of
the "Cowper stove", patented in 1857.[4] This is almost invariably used with blast furnaces
to this day.[3][5]

Five Cowper's regenerative heat exchanger placed in series.

Types of regenerators[edit]

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In rotary regenerators the matrix rotates continuously through two counter-flowing
streams of fluid. In this way, the two streams are mostly separated but the seals are
generally not perfect. Only one stream flows through each section of the matrix at a time;
however, over the course of a rotation, both streams eventually flow through all sections
of the matrix in succession. Each portion of the matrix will be nearly isothermal, since the
rotation is perpendicular to both the temperature gradient and flow direction, and not
through them. The two fluid streams flow counter-current. The fluid temperatures vary
across the flow area; however the local stream temperatures are not a function of time.
In a fixed matrix regenerator, a single fluid stream has cyclical, reversible flow; it is said
to flow "counter-current". This regenerator may be part of a valveless system, such as
aStirling engine. In another configuration, the fluid is ducted through valves to different
matrices in alternate operating periods Ph and Pc resulting in outlet temperatures that
vary with time.
Another type of regenerator is called a micro scale regenerative heat exchanger. It
has a multilayer grating structure in which each layer is offset from the adjacent layer by

half a cell which has an opening along both axes perpendicular to the flow axis. Each
layer is a composite structure of two sublayers, one of a high thermal conductivity
material and another of a low thermal conductivity material. When a hot fluid flows
through the cell, heat from the fluid is transferred to the cell wells, and stored there.
When the fluid flow reverses direction, heat is transferred from the cell walls back to the
fluid.
A third type of regenerator is called a "Rothemuhle" regenerator. This type has a fixed
matrix in a disk shape, and streams of fluid are ducted through rotating hoods.
TheRothemuhle regenerator is used as an air preheater in some power generating
plants. The thermal design of this regenerator is the same as of other types of
regenerators.[citation needed]

Biology[edit]
We use our nose and throat as a regenerative heat exchanger when we breathe. The
cooler air coming in is warmed, so that it reaches the lungs as warm air. On the way back
out, this warmed air deposits much of its heat back onto the sides of the nasal passages,
so that these passages are then ready to warm the next batch of air coming in. Some
animals, including humans, have curled sheets of bone inside the nose called nasal
turbinates to increase the surface area for heat exchange.

Cryogenics[edit]
Regenerative heat exchangers are made up of materials with high volumetric heat
capacity and low thermal conductivity in the longitudinal (flow) direction.
At cryogenic (very low) temperatures around 20 K, the specific heat of metals are low,
and so a regenerator must be larger for a given heat load.

Advantages of regenerators[edit]
The advantages of a regenerator over a recuperating (counter-flowing) heat exchanger is
that it has a much higher surface area for a given volume, which provides a reduced
exchanger volume for a given energy density, effectiveness and pressure drop. This
makes a regenerator more economical in terms of materials and manufacturing,
compared to an equivalent recuperator.
The design of inlet and outlet headers used to distribute hot and cold fluids in the matrix
is much simpler in counter flow regenerators than recuperators. The reason behind this is
that both streams flow in different sections for a rotary regenerator and one fluid enters
and leaves one matrix at a time in a fixed-matrix regenerator. Furthermore flow sectors
for hot and cold fluids in rotary regenerators can be designed to optimize pressure drop
in the fluids. The matrix surfaces of regenerators also have self-cleaning characteristics,
reducing fluid-side fouling and corrosion. Finally properties such as small surface density
and counter-flow arrangement of regenerators make it ideal for gas-gas heat exchange
applications requiring effectiveness exceeding 85%. The heat transfer coefficient is much
lower for gases than for liquids, thus the enormous surface area in a regenerator greatly
increases heat transfer.

Disadvantages of regenerators[edit]
The major disadvantage of a regenerator is that there is always some mixing of the fluid
streams, and they can not be completely separated. There is an unavoidable carryover of
a small fraction of one fluid stream into the other. In the rotary regenerator, the carryover
fluid is trapped inside the radial seal and in the matrix, and in a fixed-matrix regenerator,
the carryover fluid is the fluid that remains in the void volume of the matrix. This small
fraction will mix with the other stream in the following half-cycle. Therefore regenerators
are only used when it is acceptable for the two fluid streams to be mixed. Mixed flow is
common for gas-to-gas heat and/or energy transfer applications, and less common in

liquid or phase-changing fluids since fluid contamination is often prohibited with liquid
flows.
The constant heating and cooling that takes place in regenerative heat exchangers puts
a lot of stress on the components of the heat exchanger, which can cause cracking or
breakdown of materials.

See also[edit]

Countercurrent exchange

Economizer

Heat exchanger

Hot blast

Recuperator

desalination - some thermal desalination plants use regenerative heat

exchangers